Membership promotion, anyone?

In October, I received that scam call from a China girl. Today, I received a telemarketing call from Sam. He is an Indian.

Now, I do not have any prejudice towards Indians, but some of them do speak with an incomprehensible accent, and Sam is one of those.

"Good morning, my name is Sam. I'm calling from ... Company... Our company is celebrating our 10th anniversary, so we are having a promotion. 50 selected people will get to sign up for our membership at...and you are one of the lucky ones selected. This card...very good...many discounts with...free accomodation at ...Hotel at Kuala Lumpur...Transferrable to your friends and family members... Two years free... Only have to pay $59.90; $59.90 to sign up for the membership!"

The "..." represent the parts which I could not understand. I told him, "Sorry, I'm not interested."

And I told him, "Sorry, I'm not interested."

And I told him again, "Sorry, I'm not interested."

"May I know why is that so? This is a very good deal, and we are having a promotion now so only 50 people will get it. You will only have to pay $59.90! Other people have to pay three hundred and ... to get it. Our company is located at Genting Lane, and we have been here for 10 years already. If you have any queries I can transfer you to our ... Manager or you can call 6*******(I did not bother to remember)."

"No, I don't want it."

"...Can I have your name and address so we can send our courier team to your place to explain the details to you? It's really a very good deal..."

"Sorry, I'm not interested. You can give the promotion to someone else."

"Sir, can I have your name and address so we can send our courier team..."

I interrrupted him, "Sorry, no."

"...to your place..."

After some more rambling, he finally gave in to my persistent rejection.

"Ok. It's really a pity that you are giving up this chance, Sir. "

Phew... Finally! Actually throughout the conversation, I was wondering whether I should have just hung up the phone, but I decided that would be too rude of me. I believe many would have done so if they had the same experience. Anyway, I did not believe that the so called 'promotion' is only for 50 people. He probably said that to everyone he called up. Unfortunately for him, I do not have the habit of taking up dodgy offers from people of ambiguous background, saying things I could not understand half the time.

While it was a relieve to finally get him off my back, I was to have another shock shortly after. Barely 10 minutes after he hung up the phone, I received another call. A private line, just like before.

"Good morning, my name is Sam. I'm calling from ... Company... Our company is celebrating our 10th anniversary, so we are having a promotion. 50 selected people will get to sign up for our membership at...and you are one of the lucky ones selected..."

"You called me earlier."

"(Pause)Ya...actually I really think it would be a pity if you give up this chance. For only $59.90, you get to enjoy...while others need to pay...If you have any queries, I can transfer you to our...Manager..."

"No, I'm not interested. Bye!"

Kevin's Wedding Dinner

The Merchant Court Ballroom
Swissotel Merchant Court, Singapore
20 Merchant Road

On Sunday, I attended the long-awaited marriage of my army bunk-mate, Kevin Lu, with his girlfriend of ten years, Brenda Tan. But before that, Fabian and I met up with WP and Joanne at Tampines, for a ride down to Orchard to meet Kenny for some shopping.

There's a bicycle stand along the sheltered walkway behind the MRT station. Many people wait there for the free shuttle service to Giant. And it was here, I found a number of bicycles with rubbish in their baskets. So many inconsiderate and self-centred people around! :-(

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Wei Ping was driving his sis' husband's car. It is a very interesting car. The back seats came with seat-belts but no clips for them. So how are passengers at the back supposed to fasten their seat-belts? Hmm...

At Orchard, we spent some time looking for a cheap carpark. One particular dark and cramped hotel carpark charges $4.00 per entry! Luckily though, we managed to get a lot in the Shaw Centre Carpark at only $2.14 per entry! :-D

Kenny was late. We were supposed to meet at DFS Galleria at 6pm. It was close to 7 by the time he reached, along with his girlfriend, two younger brothers, and the girlfriend of one of his brothers. His mum was there too, and had evidently reached much earlier as she berated him for his lateness. We were quite surprised to see the family turnout, which we found out later was due to Kenny's mum playing Santa to her three sons, promising to buy one a Gucci belt each (WOW!) while getting a Gucci bag(and more) for herself.

I even met Leng there while waiting for the family to get their stuff. Wei Ping and Fabian thought she was my girlfriend. Lol! Apparently she was there to buy the LV wallet for RC for their gift exchange. Singapore is so small that we can easily bump into someone familiar along Orchard Road.

It was almost 8pm by the time Mummy Goh completed the purchase(she was actually the fastest among the four shoppers, so it really wasn't her fault that they took so long) with a 30% staff discount courtesy of Joanne. We watched in amazement as she fished out a thick stack of $50 notes, with more left in her bag!

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

It was finally time to make our way to the dinner, more than half an hour late. After some initial confusion over the location of the banquet at Swissotel, we arrived at the Ballroom, where Kevin and bride were waiting at the entrance to welcome guests. Ha! Dinner has not commenced yet!

Unfortunately, it was already past 8:30pm by the time the dinner started, and my stomach was growling away. Fortunately, there was extra food available as two of my fellow guests were absent. :-p

There was a video montage of Kevin and Brenda, from when they were babies to their current stage as husband and wife. There was also a video of the proceedings earlier in the day, and we saw how the army friends who were chosen to be his 'Brothers' were treated to 'kaya' (wasabi) buns and raw bitter gourd juice. What a nutricious and 'delicious way to start the day!

It was almost 11pm by the time we ended. The nine-courses were all pretty delicious and I really enjoyed my dinner. The only minor grouse I had was that prawns appeared too often. Haha!

StanChart Singapore Marathon 2008

This is supposed to be all about my run, except that I did not run...

Yesterday, 7th December 2008, was supposed to be the day I complete my first full marathon. Although far from prepared, I had nevertheless decided to go for it last night. Armed with a bunch of three bananas (LOL... I managed to find this small 'bunch' at Carrefour) and some bread, I had gone down to Hon's house to stay overnight as it is far nearer to the run venue. Unfortunately, despite his kind hospitality, I was not able to get a good rest on the makeshift 'bed' of sleeping bag with two blankets. Having wrongly assumed that he did not have any spare pillow to offer, I rolled up one of the blankets to use as a neck support.

It didn't work.

Between 1130pm and 4am, I must have been asleep for a total of less than 3 hours, in the midst of all the tossing and turning. At 4am, after realigning my position, I tried to get some 'last minute' of rest before my official wake-up time of 4:35am on my phone's alarm.

I woke up at 5:30am(the marathon was supposed to start at 5.30am), wondering why the 35 minutes seemed like an eternity. As it turns out, I had set my alarm to sound on Saturday instead of Sunday. -.-" Stumbling into the toilet, I contemplated joining the half marathon or going back to bed. 15 minutes later, my eyes still as puffy as when I woke up, I decided it would be safer for me to get some much needed rest. I woke up Hon when I re-entered the room, and was promptly chided for not asking for a pillow as he passed me one. Ah!! Finally I could get some sleep!

Surprise!

Came home today to find 3 envelopes addressed to me: one from Citibank, one from DBS, and another one from an unknown party.



I opened the last one first, and to my pleasant surprise, it contained my IC! (I couldn't stop smiling for the next 10 minutes) Seems like the guy who took my IC had some conscience afterall. Then I started wondering why he did not return my driving license as well, or even the whole wallet.



I started to analyse the handwriting, and came to the conclusion that whoever wrote the address on the envelope is probably a male in his 40s - 50s, educated with good pen control (Lol!). My mum agreed with my analysis...



The envelope from Citibank contained my new Clear Card. Wow! They are very efficient indeed! They never fail to provide me with prompt service, and their phone operators are good too!



The letter from DBS was another pleasant surprise. Apparently whoever took my wallet had attempted to withdraw cash using my POSB debit card, but was rejected after exceeding the maximum number of allowed tries. I was telling a friend earlier today, that I hoped that guy would attempt to use my cards so that there may be a chance of catching him, and my wish came true! I had thought he would use the credit card instead of going to the ATM since most retail staff are not very vigilant when checking if the signature matches. Hopefully, now the police will be able to trace the culprit and help me to recoup my belongings...

Towards justice!

My wallet!!

Haiz... I lost my wallet for the second time this year.

The last one I lost in July was last year's birthday present from RC; this time it's this year's birthday present from WP. I've only had it for less than a month!! Argh!!! Gifts from two of my best friends, and they are both gone...

As if it wasn't disheartening enough, I had to endure tons of scolding and nagging from my mum. Some even bordered on the ridiculous.
"Why are you so careless?!"
"After the last incident, why haven't you learnt your lesson?"
"How are you going to get a job in future if you can't even take care of your wallet?"
"Don't think losing your IC is a small matter! You think lose IC just pay money can settle
everything no big deal? If they use your IC to borrow from loan sharks, we could be locked
in house you know? What if they splash paint at our door step?"
"Both times you lost your wallet in AMK. 'They' must be targeting you."
And more...

Looks like I'm fated to stick with my $10 wallet.

Who moved my bus?

I've never been so disappointed with SBS.

Time: 8:35am
Place: Bus stop beside Dover MRT, outside Singapore Polytechnic
Offending bus number: 74

I was already late for my class, which was supposed to commence at 8:30am. Nevertheless, I thought I could be just 10mins late if the waiting time for 74 is minimal. I was initially relieved to see a big crowd of students at the bus stop as it meant that 74 is late and would probably arrive soon (it is the only bus connecting to SIM and NP from Dover MRT).


Time: 8:45am

A single-deck 74 arrives, followed by a double-deck one immediately after. Unfortunately, I was not able to board either. I was not the only one who failed to board either bus though. I found out later from Sebas that the huge crowd was due to a long wait that had started way before I arrived at the bus stop. Apparently, he had reached there around 8:05am.

I thought the bus would arrive shortly.

Time: 9am

By now, I was really bored and wondering if the bus would ever come. A few started messaging away, perhaps to complain to their friends about the long wait. I was also getting tired of the Bubbles game on my handphone, which I had been playing since the start of my journey. I see the crowd building up again.

I thought the bus would arrive shortly.


Time: 9:15am

Bus 74 seems to be taking eternity to reach the bus stop. Considering that stop is only about 10 - 15mins away from its depot at Buona Vista Bus Terminal, it was really puzzling how the bus took so long to reach. Could there be a huge jam outside Buona Vista MRT?

Meanwhile, in the next eight minutes, two bus 105, two bus 147, and FOUR bus 14 (YES! It's really four!) appeared and disappeared. But still no bus 74.

I thought the bus would arrive shortly.


Time: 9:25am

Relieve! Finally the ordeal is over. For me at least. A few people were not able to board the bus. Well, I'd waited long enough; it's their turn to wait.


Conclusion

Amazingly, between 8:05am and 9:25am, which is a span of 1hr 20mins, only three bus 74 appeared at that bus stop. That makes it an average frequency of 26.666666666mins per bus! Wow! I certainly didn't expect that from our supposedly world class transport system. To add insult to injury, the wait took so long that I was not awarded any transfer rebate. -.-'''

I think it's very unfair that I have to pay more for substandard service.

Two off service bus 74 passed by between 9am and 9:25am. Another off service bus was spotted, but no number plate could be seen. I would not be surprised though, if that was supposed to be bus 74 as well. It's curious how bus 74 kept getting rerouted while a big crowd waits for eternity.

HOW DISAPPOINTING!


P.S. I spotted a broken down bus 74 parked by the road near the bus stop outside SIM, when I was waiting for my bus home.

It's a scam!

It was 10:10am on a normal Wednesday morning. I was still in dreamland.

The phone rang. I picked it up, thinking it was Mother. (She seems to enjoy bombarding the phone with a myriad of requests/instructions on those mornings that I sleep in...)

Me: (Still half-asleep, in a sleepy drone) Hello...
Girl-speaking-in-Mandarin-with-a-hint-of-a-Chinese-accent (GSMHCA): (Sobbing) Pa pa! Kuai lai jiu wo! (Translation: Dad! Save me!)

Me: (Still half-asleep, in a sleepy drone) Huh?? (I didn't quite catch what she said)
GSMHCA: (Sobbing) Pa pa! Kuai lai jiu wo!

Me: (Slightly more awake, in a sleepy drone) Ni shi shui? (Translation: Who are you?)
GSMHCA: (Sobbing) Pa pa! Kuai lai jiu wo!

Me: (A little more awake, in a sleepy drone) Ni shi shui?
GSMHCA: (Sobbing) Pa pa! Kuai lai jiu wo!

Me: (Awake now) Ni shi shui?
The girl hung up.

Damn! My brain was just starting to function and I thought I could elicit more information from her and spoil her fun with a police report. I regretted asking “Ni shi shui?” a third time. It came out from my mouth too fast, like a conditioned reflex. The first time I asked, I thought that perhaps someone I know was really in trouble and had said “Wo hen pa” - I'm scared, rather than called me “Pa pa”, which is why I asked a second time. I wonder if she thinks I'm retarded. (Hmm...)

Interestingly, I only just read about one of these scam calls last night from an online forum. Someone from an English-speaking family wrote that his mum received a call from a Chinese claiming to be him (her son), saying that he had been kidnapped. Haha!





P.S.: Hmm... I didn't know I have a daughter... Should I be happy or worried? Or maybe my dad has a daughter! ;-p

Continuing registration for UOL course

I finally found that darned letter from UOL.

It seemed like I have been searching for it for years, digging through mountains of notes, flipping through piles of bank notices, and swimming through a sea of other paraphernalia. Oh, how much I've sweated just to uncover it - my letter for continuing registration for my UOL course.

I thought it was quite silly of them to mail the letter to us so soon, when I received it in August. Or was it July? It was SOOOOO long ago I couldn't recall.

Anyway, I was supposed to fill up the form and mail it over with the cheque for the continuing registration fee by 10th October, and I was really starting to get worried yesterday when it continued to remain MIA. It didn't help that the humidity and heat was stifling and pretty much driving me crazy. You can imagine my relief when I found it. No more exertions in that torrid weather!

I wasn't very happy though when I saw the fee - 261 GBP (Great Britain Pounds), and increase of over 7% on the previous year's 243 GBP! I was to change my mind, however, after my trip to the bank to get my bank draft. Thanks to the drastic weakening in the GBP this year however, this year's fee cost me almost SGD$50 less! Woohoo!!

Hopefully, the exchange rate will stay favourable till next year, when I pay for the exam fees.

One week and more in review

Last week was an emotional roller-coaster.

Saturday: Celebrate JC's 21st birthday at Waraku followed by chess party
Sunday: Attend colleague's wedding reception
Monday: Got scolded by grandma for visiting her in hospital
Monday / Tuesday: Attend a close friend's grandma's wake

Ok... Actually much of the emotions subsided after Tuesday and life was more or less back to normal.

Until Sunday.

During tuition.

31st August.

The day before Teachers' Day.

I received a few presents for which I was secretly pleased, more so when Kenny lamented that he did not receive any. Even if they are just high-class trash (so says Mrs. Ang, which is true in a way).



This week was more 'exciting'.

It's not often that the office gets shifted, and now that it's nearer to home, I was really keen to see it. In the end, even though equipment are new and some new facilities and equipment are available, I can't help feeling a little disappointed at the reduced capacity and somewhat unwelcoming feel of the new office. Then again, as Peter says, the rental is expensive, and I guess it makes sense for him to maximise the use of every bit of space available.

Lunch at Long John Silver's was an eye-opener. I really had to open my eyes wide to look out for the seemingly endless ants appearing in their drinks. The counter staff filled and refilled three cups with Sprite, and huge ants appeared every time. The exasperated guy meekly requested for a change to Coke, which I agreed to. Thinking this was a one-off incident, I went back to my seat to join my colleagues. Then Jolene spotted an ant at the bottom of her almost finished cup of Iced Lemon Tea. Examining Alicia's cup of Iced Lemon Tea, we spotted an ant in there too!

Together, we went to the counter, planning to demand an explanation. But being the nice guys we were, we merely told the counter staff to be more careful while the embarrassed guy refilled a cup wif Iced Lemon Tea from the SAME dispenser where the ants came from! Subsequently, we saw him continue to serve customers drinks from that dispenser! Hey dude! Is that how Long John Silver's got it's 'A' grade for hygiene??? I would have written in to NEA if I had photographic proof of their 'hygienic' practises.

More drama followed on Tuesday. On my way to PS for sp, I came across a face-off at the traffic lights outside the MRT station. A white car was stopped beside a white Mercedes cab, and the rear passenger of the car was trading Hokkien vulgarities with the cab driver. Moments later, he got out of the cab and motioned for the cab driver to get out of his cab to 'settle their argument', all the while blasting the cab driver with an endless tirade of crude phrases. Even when the lights turned green, he simply turned around to scold the drivers behind who sounded their horns at him! When they finally drove off, the show did not end. Speeding ahead, the taxi driver swerved momentarily into the path of the other vehicle, causing the other driver to execute an emergency brake, before swerving back out into his original lane! I'm sure that was not the end of the story, but that was all I saw.

Today was pretty anti-climatic by comparison. The most interesting thing that happened was my discovery that the Samsung i780 which I had bought online with my Singtel iTwo Value contract, at what I thought was a very good price of $138 only last Friday, was now available at $48 with the same plan!!

ARGH !!!

The Born Loser?

I received my NTUC Fairprice Plus card today. :-D

Q: What should you do when you receive a new credit/debit card?

a) Polish it
b) Find a good spot in your cabinet to showcase it
c) Keep it in your wallet straight away in case you misplace it
d) Find a quiet corner or better still, hide in your room, then slowly open the package so that no one knows that you got a new card
e) Tell everyone you know that you got a new card. Better yet, get them to sign up if it comes with referral fees or benefits
f) Sign on the back of the card



Being an obedient boy, I immediately got a pen and left my John Hancock on that plastic. But wait, something doesn't seem quite right...

What's wrong? Hmm...

Aha! Something's wrong alright! It turns out that instead of signing on the strip of paper on the card where MOST people sign on, I've made a fool of myself and signed on the magnetic strip instead.

Frantic rubbing ensued as I attempted to remove evidence of my moment of stupidity. All the while, I was slightly worried that my pen may have scratched and damaged the strip.

After my best efforts, I managed to remove 95% of the stain. It was then I had another worry. What if the furious rubbing damaged the strip?

As it should be apparent by now, ignorance is wreaking havoc, causing undue stress. I decided to take my mind off the matter. Hopefully my card is not stillborn.




Haiz... Yet another day of nonsense. :-(

I felt so noob today...

I was such a joke today!

Two weeks back, I made a request for a new DBS iB token as I'd misplaced it. I had to pay $20 for the replacement. This morning, I found it while looking for a pen which I hadn't seen for some time...

Then, while I was in the office in the afternoon, I noticed my socks did not look quite alike. Taking a closer look, I realised one is navy, the other is grey... (Nobody seemed to have noticed it though. Haha!)

I almost made a total fool out of myself with the next incident. Having tried repeatedly to connect to the wireless network without success, I was about to approach the IT personnel, Lai Peng, to help me uncover the problem, when I noticed I had forgotten to turn on my wireless modem...

What a joke!

Thus came a fitting end to the day when I reach home to find that I got a new mail - my new DBS iB token.

Awareness

I can't believe how lazy I've been.

Until I saw the date of my last post. OMG! Has it been THAT long??

Actually, there's a lot that I've wanted to blog about, things like my reservist experience, for instance. Somehow, I've just been VERY lazy. Yet for some unknown reason, at 2am, when I'm feeling very irritated by this uncontrollable itch on my right thigh, I just felt like blogging again.

Weird.

Haha... Let's see how long I can keep this up.

Reservist No. 2

I'm going back for reservist tomorrow! Still pretty unsure of what to expect even though this is my second one in two years. All I know is that I'll be marching.

And marching.






And marching.

That's what happens when your unit is participating in the annual SAF Day. Having participated in it during my NSF days, this is one activity I'm really not looking forward to. I'm just hoping to get more book outs.

Packed my stuff already, but I can't stop stressing over whether I've left out anything...

I'll be back!
(After three weeks...)




Query of the day: Why am I not one of those who do not get called back for reservist?

Bad day...

I had a bad day...

First, I had a big quarrel with a friend over a minor issue. Another arguement that got out of hand. What can I do to avoid all these?? Sigh...

In my frustrations, I somehow managed to lose my wallet. It was not until around 15 minutes later that I discovered the lost. Unsurprisingly, I was not able to retrieve it. Having already booked movie tickets for the evening, I ended up missing one hour of the show while making the police report.

Reaching home, I realised that I had omitted my SAF 11B from the police report of my lost possessions. Which means that I would have to make another trip down to the police station tomorrow...

Reaching home, I somehow managed to get into another quarrel with that same person, which was totally not my fault! Once again, it's another small issue which got out of hand...

Arghh!!! This is so frustrating!!

I hate to quarrel. Especially unnecessary ones. And I hate losing my wallet. Sooooo troublesome... Maybe I'm not fated to own a good wallet. My longest-lasting wallet stayed with me for 5 years and it only costs AUD$3. All those that cost more seem to have a tendency to get lost after less than a year.

Oh man...

What a frustrating day!

comGateway deserves 5 stars for their service . . . not!

Online shopping can be easy, convenient, and cheap.

It can also be very frustrating.

Frustrating when the order takes much longer to arrive than promised. Frustrating when the courier service does not inform you of the time they are delivering such that if there is no one around during delivery, you have to wait longer to get your goods. Frustrating when the company managing your order decides to impose silly charges on your order.

I placed a few orders with the ST701 spree service during the end of April and early May. Sad to say, I've been very disappointed with the service. On one occasion, I had placed orders for three items separately under the same spree box. I did not expect any complications since by virtue of the system, they would know the orders are placed by the same person, and it was the SAME box. Imagine my unpleasant surprise when I received emails for separate charges for the three items! Apparently, as the orders are separate, they were treated as orders by different people and hence, packaged as such. An email to the company in charge, comGateway, confirmed the matter. What a dumb decision! Why would I want to package my orders separately and pay extra charges for that? The company did not email me to check if I would like to have the items packaged separately, and there was also no mention of them providing such 'nice' packaging service on their website. It's the equivalent of a restaurant providing one napkin for each course of a three course meal and charging you for each napkin, without telling you they will do so, and without checking if you would like to have this service.

It did not help that I was already unhappy with the ridiculous amount of time they took to deliver my orders. According to the website, 7 to 11 business days is all they require to deliver your goods. My foot! Out of three sprees I participated in, their fastest delivery took 19 business days. My order under my first spree has not reached my over 25 business days! Although they stated on their website that the delivery time is not guaranteed, I still find it unbelievable that they can be so far off their target. Furthermore, after my email enquiry, I was promised my first order (the one above which is still missing after business days, and according to them, was initially misplaced) would reach by the end of LAST week. Well, I'm still waiting.

I've never had such a memorable shopping experience.

A step back in time

I seemed to have taken a step back in time. That familiar layout, familiar metal toilet door... It felt just like my old house...

I've been studying at a friend's house this week. Stepping into his house brought a flash of nostalgia as I surveyed the layout of the house. It is almost exactly the same as my previous house, where I had such fond memories of my childhood. My fears... My joys... Throughout my formative years, till I was 14, that house had been a part of every little step I took.

I did not experience any major life-changing events there, but its precisely the simplicity of my life while I was there that made that place so particularly memorable. Or perhaps it was more due to the the time rather than place. It was a time of innocence, of carefreeness. A time when everything was so plain and simple. A time when friends are friends and mean what they say. A time when I did not have to worry about people misinterpreting what I mean.

Everything was so plain and simple.

Broadway Beng 3

I went for the third season of Broadway Beng yesterday. (Hmmm... Sometimes I wonder if I'm serious about my studies, with my spending time on online shopping, taking time off my revision to watch a play... Haha!)

I was impressed with Sebastian Tan's vocal prowess. Whether it's English songs or Hokkien numbers, he handled them with panache. He also has 3 capable female assistants, and I was particularly impressed with this British one, who was fluent in Hokkien and especially funny in an 'Ang Mo Gao' (literally red-haired monkey, but actually referring to Caucasians) segment about Ah Meng the orangutan.

The main theme was about the cross-cultural influences in Singapore, where East meets West. Hot topics such as ministerial pay, rising rice prices and the influx of foreigners in Singapore were discussed. One of my favourite joke was a reference to Mas Selamat, and how we would not have to fear if he were in the auditorium as there were no intermission and he would not be able to go to toilet. Haha!

Overall however, I was not very satisfied with the play. Some parts were not very cohesive as he 'jumped' from one issue to another abruptly. There were also some segment which were not quite linked to the theme. Quite a number of jokes were also too lame for my liking.

I will be interested to watch his next reinstallment though, as I believe he can do better. (Zed felt that Broadway Beng 2 is better) I shall keep a look-out for it.

Online shopping is so addictive!

I joined the ST701 spree service (www.st701.c0m) recently and have been either shopping or browsing almost everyday since. It's so addictive and I wake up eager to check if my boxes have been closed, whether there are new discounts available. And it's amazing how low the prices can go sometimes, compared to those in retail in local brick-and-mortar establishments.

There's this other site which has also became part of my daily routine - www.zuunbo.com. Started by three local university students, it's got a good concept whereby new items are launched at 12am everyday, where they will be available till 11:59pm the next day, whilst stocks last. I have yet to purchase anything from that site though, because although they have very good deals ($100 Zara vouchers at $75, anyone?), nothing has caught my eyes so far. Well... I'm sure I will find something I like one day, otherwise, saving the money is not a bad alternative!

What have I done?!?

The previous incident is still very much in our minds. Yesterday I managed to achieve an unwanted double. :-(

It's worse this time round because I caused a rift between my friend and one of his best friend. It's hard for wounds to heal when the issue of trust is involved. My delay in relaying the problem to him also resulted in his unwitting aggravation of the issue...

For the first time in my life, I really feel like a jinx / devil-reincarnate.

This shall be the last time.

It must be.

It will be.

Integrity? Honesty? Good to know; not always good to have.

In primary school, we were taught the importance of having good virtues, to live with honesty, integrity and compassion, among others. We were told the examples of George Washington, Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, of how one can gain huge respect and leave behind a legacy by being doing what was taught. Of course the point was not to become famous; rather it was that we should always do things in good conscience, to be a good person.

Growing up, it gradually became apparent that a strict adherence to positive characteristics would be almost impossible. People tend to believe in good virtues only as far as it is accepted by their clique, their social circle, their culture. It is a fool who stands steadfast to his belief in honesty and integrity and reports all the dirty little secrets that he knows of. Unless they are criminal secrets, he stands to lose all his friends, as no one would dare to confide in someone fully aware that the information may not be confidential.

It can be such a dilemma at times: Do you stick to your beliefs to be a person of integrity when you are aware that your good friend is not doing things in his best conscience and risk the friendship, or close one eye and let the matter rest (Of course the assumption here is that the other party believes he/she is doing no wrong)? When the matter of concern is not serious (eg. not a criminal offence), most people will choose to side with their friend. Nonetheless, a wrong is a wrong, regardless of the gravity of it.

Conclusion: It is wise to act dumb at times and be suitably ignorant. Afterall, while you may be right in exposing a friend's misdeeds, you have also breached his trust in you. So how do you determine who's right, who's wrong; what's right, what's wrong?

Is this the end of the friendship?

It really doesn't pay to be kind.

Sometimes people take advantage of your kindness. Some will take you for granted. Others suspect you have an ulterior motive. Can't a person show some pure kindness to a fellow human?



It doesn't pay to know too much.

When you know too much for your own good, there is always a risk of you accidentally revealing more than you should.



It's definitely good to watch what you say.

Saying the wrong things can turn out to be a joke; lead to a slight misunderstanding; or result in dire consequences.



It absolutely sucks to be in my shoes now, being too kind to the wrong person, resulting in people having doubts in my true intention. It absolutely sucks to be in my shoes now, saying things carelessly, resulting in unhappiness all round and boundless misery for myself and all involved.

It's an unnecessary distraction in the midst of my exam preparation, not to mention for the others involved. The problem could have been avoided had I acted dumb.



Time heals most wound.

Can this wound be healed in a short time?












Sincerely sorry, mostly miserable, undeniably upset(with myself).

My last Stats lesson?

I've been trying to bulk up in the midst of my exam preparation. Have gone for three sessions so far, but results have been slow to show. Think I really need to increase the frequency and perhaps start taking protein powder (as RC suggests)? 

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Just had my Stats revision lesson today. Celia conducted the lecture at a very leisurely pace, just as she did last year. Starting her lesson 15 minutes late, she proclaims to be sorry for the late commencement as "... students tend to be late... I didn't expect you guys to be so punctual...". Around half an hour later, she stopped for a break (about half an hour earlier than what the other lecturers do). There was more to come after lunch, when she came back 10 minutes late. This is apparently due to her watch running at a different time from that in the lecture room. Perhaps if we were to have another day of lesson with her, she would be late for class after getting lost in the toilet.

I see something around the corner...

Wow! It's been so long since I last blogged. Have been VERY lazy... Haha... Exams nearing but my heart's not quite there. Sheesh! I really want to do better this time. Last year was horrendous... But at the rate I'm going, it's going to be real tough...

Time to get down to WORK!!!

Surprise meeting

I had a pleasant surprise yesterday when I met Kelly at the UOB branch at AMK Hub. Almost did not recognise her as she was taller then the last time we met (thanks to VERY high heels). Apparently she was going to leave on Tuesday (she never inform me!), and was out doing some last minute shopping for the trip back. As there was still time before RC would reach for our planned study session, I decided to accompany her around.

The ever-forgetful girl was struggling to recall what she was planning to get. I was quite bewildered by her continued dependence on her unreliable memory instead of setting reminders on her phone. Even after my suggestion, there was no action on her part to remedy the problem. Perhaps the more pressing concern is her laziness?

Her first task (after we met) was to get new contact lens. The only difficulty in this 'activity' was that she could not recall which shop she used to patronise, and she insisted on going to that shop because they had 'this girl who performed a very accurate assessment of her degree of myopia'.

The two of us set out looking for an optical shop with "that girl". Along the way, I gave my reasoning of why it would be better to remember the relative location of the shop, if not the shop name, rather than a particular staff in the shop since she would not be able to locate the shop should the staff leave that shop. By a stroke of luck, we managed to locate that shop because she did remember the relative location of that shop. We did not see "that girl". Anyway, I was quite amused by her answer to the shop-owner's questions.

"What's your degree?"
"Don't know."
"Do you have records with us?"
"Don't know."

With her name and block number, the owner did managed to find her records and ascertained that she was a client. We then spent another 10 minutes or so at the shop as she deliberated whether to buy lenses that were 50 degrees higher than what she wore as the latter was sold out. It was around this time that I received an SMS from RC saying he had reached AMK Library.

I decided to let him wait.

After getting her lenses, with some more shopping, we separated about 25 minutes later as she went to meet a friend in town for more shopping while I met up with RC.

Any bad feelings I had about letting him wait was eliminated when he told me of his date with a lecture mate he just befriended, later in the evening. It was not the first time he threw such a bomb, informing me of his plans to meet others later the day only when we meet up. I had voiced my displeasure every time because I did not like having to have dinner alone while he goes on his prearranged date. If he had informed me earlier, I could make plans for dinner at home or with other friends. I was relieved when he told me later that he would have dinner with me before leaving.

The twist in the tale came when I received an SMS from Kelly just when we were planning to go for dinner. She had finished her dinner early, and was on her way back to AMK. She asked if I wanted to meet her. In the midst of our SMS exchanges as we discussed the best line of action, I even suggested that she could go home first and wait till I finished my dinner. What a stupid thought! Eventually, the little dilemma of having dinner with him or meeting her was resolved quite simply as I met her after my dinner, with her shopping around by herself while she waited.

There was more drama after we met up. We saw a mutual friend, SN, whom she had been avoiding in AMK Hub. She proceeded to usher me up the escalator in quick time to avoid an awkward meeting. She remained paranoid about meeting him the rest of the time we were in AMK Hub. Haha! We ended the day chatting for around two hours in MacDonald's after that, as she satisfied her Coke craving.

She was glad to meet me before she left, unplanned and unexpected as it may be. I thought so too.


I found out some interesting things about Australia(or at least the state she's studying in - Queensland):

1. A box of Strepsils cost around A$13 whereas a movie ticket cost A$5!

2. Chinese restaurants there pay A$9-10 per hour, which is considered low. In contrast, MacDonald's pay $19 per hour!! Wow...

3. The bus service employs an ancient ticketing system, whereby commuters tell the driver their destination on boarding, then the driver keys in the information and collects payment before printing out the ticket! Much time is lost in the whole process, not least while searching for the correct change. Kelly said she once stepped off a bus because she only had a A$20 note with her. She did not think of exchanging her note for smaller change with the passengers. Lol!

4. As a student, she gets 50% concession on public transport. There's a further 50% concession if she takes it during the off-peak hours, which happens to be after 5pm on weekdays, and the entire weekend! Their peak / off-peak hours are congruent with their entertainment and retail industry, and is the direct opposite of what we have in Singapore. Imagine getting movie tickets for the 'off-peak' price of $7 on a Sunday...

Chinese New Year

Four days of Chinese New Year celebrations.

I use to love having more days to celebrate the occasion; now, four days feels like a lot. Apart from the first day, the remaining three days are just repetitive visiting of relatives we have already exchanged greetings with on the first day at my grandparents' houses. The activities are the same too: play cards or watch TV programmes. I probably would have enjoyed myself more if mahjong was available.

I had thought of going out with friends or meeting up for mahjong sessions, but with all the visiting that I felt compelled to follow, my plans did not materialise. I thought of making better use of all that free time, but somehow, it just does not feel right to study during Chinese New Year. I ended up wasting my time on games and TV...

Damn! Why am I feeling frustrated at unimportant matters when the more pressing issue of exam is just round the corner? Urghh!!!

Stressed... -_-'"

Work has been very much on my mind recently. Actually, I've been thinking a lot about my where I'm heading since October, but something RC said recently has brought more urgency to the issue. It has caused me much confusion and anxiety and I feel so lost now. Coupled with my other commitments, i am now feeling very stressful and finding it hard to focus on my priority at hand.

It's a good thing CNY is approaching. Although I doubt that there will be a simple resolution to my issues at the end of this festive period, I can at least get a brief respite (hopefully) from those frustrating thoughts.

If only life can be more straightforward.

Perhaps I should have been more stubborn.

I could have enjoyed the comforts.

I was never really keen about it in the first place.

Dilemma.

Shopping for CNY!

This has got to be the first time I spend over $250 on shopping for CNY apparels, capped off by a pair of FCUK jeans that set me back by $149! I would never have bought it if I were not shopping with RC. Heck! I would not even have seen it since I've never shopped in FCUK boutiques before. I really loved it, but I could have saved around $60 getting another pair of jeans we saw at Topshop, which, admittedly, was a shade inferior in quality and design. My mum could not believe her ears when I told her the price. Afterall, I was never known to spend above $100 on a single piece of clothing, and I had always avoided branded goods. Well... I suppose I have to spend a LITTLE bit more if I want to look better...

That pair of jeans was really damaging to my wallet and heavily reduced my budget for other items. Of course, that did not mean that I satisfy myself with Giordano plain polo tees and Bata school shoes. RC would have given me a tight slap if I even entertained that thought - not that I would consider that option. I do not wish to end up looking like a dork with a $149 jeans and a T-shirt, shoes and belt adding up to $50. Besides, I had already revised my budget upwards after seeing the price tags on those nice clothes. Still, there were times when I felt like strangling RC for his continual introduction of clothes above my budget and preaching to me the merits of buying better clothes. As I've told him numerous times, there's no way I will pay in excess of $100 for a belt that has a similar design in many other shops, available at $50-$60. I did succumbed to a pair of white Lacoste canvas shoe that cost at least double of lesser brands even with the discount. RC convinced me the crocodiles were worth the extra cash. And the quality too.

I still have a belt and a nice Espirit polo tee to purchase to complete my shopping for this CNY...

Wow... I'm so excited about this CNY. Can't wait to get hong pows to cover my 'losses'.

(P.S. Oh dear... I feel so 'auntie'...)

Thanks for the compliments!

I usually go to school in T-shirt or polo tee with jeans. Today, I decided to wear something different for a change and went in long sleeve shirt with jeans instead. I was pleasantly surprised by all the positive comments.

SG, "Eh, I didn't recognise you...cause you're not wearing red today...and your hair is styled differently right?"

Marc, "Wow! Where are you going later? Dressed so sharply today!"

Hmm... Was my dressing really bad previously or do I just look much better today? Or perhaps they were just surprised by the change in style? Anyway, it was not my first time dressed in this way (first time in school though), and it definitely would not be the last.

To all those who think I have poor fashion sense: I do know how to appreciate good fashion OK! What I lack is the financial means for a complete wardrobe overhaul to clear my old, ill-fitting clothes. Until I am financially stable, I will have to continue wearing them while I gradually improve my collection.

In line for improvement!

Another quarrel today.

First he claimed he reply when he did not. Then when I point it out to him, he says he did not see the need to reply because what I asked did not make sense. Wow. If asking whether he wants to work the next day does not make sense, I do not know what does.

He proceeded to point out how it is not right of me to ask why he did not reply, linking to lots of other stuff, many grand theories and reasoning. There was hardly any regard (if fact, none at all) to my request for him to inform should he be leaving his computer for a nap while we are chatting so that I do not end up 'talking' to empty space - and also to ensure that I get my message across to him, and not end up lost in his computer's memory. Now it's MY fault!?!

Finally, after going in circles for eternity, he got to his point, which is that all his actions, even those seemingly negative ones, are intentionally designed to help me correct my flaws. Wow. Well, it's hard to believe this is the real reason given how he kept changing his statement, especially how it seems such an elaborate plan. One that has supposedly been active for months.

Well, I will trust him this time. I will change for the better. Hopefully, the nonsense from him will stop too, if indeed they were intended to make me change.

:-)

My fault again?!

Humans are such complex creatures. It's so hard to understand what others are thinking...

Why would he want to intentionally say something that he knows will hurt me? And what right does he have to be upset with me for being unhappy after that? And yet he insists it's my fault?

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Why bother apologising if you think you are right? How do I accept an apology that is followed by continued insistence that I am in the wrong?

And now I spoil your mood because you disappointed me first?

Carry on being an obstinate Mr Right if you want. I shall try to be as quiet as possible in future. I think you would prefer it that way since you like to keep to yourself so much. In that way, we can also minimise all this unnecessary quarrels.

In any case, I'm tired of being wrong 99% of the time. You can save your double standards for people who don't care.

Disappointed and hurt.

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I miss my primary school friends...

(Now, which girl is willing to help me heal my soul?)